A Time for Thanks

By Marilyn Allen, Editor-at-Large

We at Acupuncture Today wish you the happiest of holidays and a prosperous new year. I would like to thank our columnists and contributors, who have written so many words of wisdom and education this past year.

The acupuncture and Oriental medicine community has used much of this information in its business and personal lives. To all the advertisers, thank you for sharing your products, seminars and general information. To the readers of AT - thank you for reading the publication.

These past few weeks have brought a plethora of events and experiences. Congratulations go out to AAAOM, NCCAOM, CCAOM and ACAOM on 25 years of service to the profession. In October, the AAAOM hosted its annual conference in Portland, Ore. If you were fortunate enough to attend, you know that everyone had a great time. The sessions were enjoyable and informative. If you were not able to attend the conference, you missed a great time of academic learning, meeting new friends and renewing previous acquaintances.

I want to personally thank the more than 60 vendors who supported this convention. Your presence, your giveaways and your generosity in donating the prizes for the Saturday gala was one of the highlights for attendees. Thanks to Christine Chang, who went to the vendors and asked them to donate.

The AAAOM has organized a national Political Action Committee, named OMPAC. It collected donations at the conference. Debra Lincoln, the conference chair, contributed the first $500. Thank you, Debra! Others also gave donations. This will help with federal legislation.

A great big thank you to Rebekah Christensen, executive director of AAAOM, and Debra Lincoln for all their ideas, hard work and seamless running of the conference. The comments about the conference were very positive.

Congratulations to the newly elected officers for the AAAOM for 2007-2008. Martin Herbkersman was elected to lead the organization. He has experience in the political arena and in private practice. Corinne Axelrod is the new vice president. Bill Reddy is the new secretary. Shane Burras, the current treasurer, will serve another year. Debra Lincoln is the vice president of corporate events. This is a great group of leaders. If you are not a member of AAAOM, please call (866) 455-7999. Membership is one of the important elements of professionalism.

For me, one of the most exciting elements of the conference was meeting more than 180 students from around the United States. It was wonderful to see this new group of up-and-coming professionals getting ready to join the profession. The student caucus discussed many issues pertinent to the profession. The students discussed how they could be involved and help the profession with various causes.

The student caucus also selected officers for the coming year. Congratulations to Amanda Troelsen and Patty Fullin, co-presidents. Jolene Habeck is the co-president elect. Niall Sheehan is the vice president. Maureen Woyci is the treasurer. Daljit Sachdev is the secretary. Margo Schaefer is the coordinator. Jim Pastore represents the Northeast Atlantic region, Jackie O'Meara represents the Southeast Atlantic region, Hilary Patzer is the Central region area, Nancy Robinson is the Mountain regional director, Kimberley Benjamin is the Northwest Pacific region, and Melissa Monroe Ferguson represents the Southwest Pacific region. This looks like a great group of leaders. They want all of your help to move this profession forward in the months ahead.

Heartfelt thanks go to Rhonda Wilber and Koala Moore, who have served as co-presidents for two years and are turning over the leadership positions. Both of these individuals received their licenses and have joined the ranks of professional acupuncturists.

One of the things presented at the nomenclature panel was a copy of International Standards of Terminology for Oriental Medicine, from the Pacific Rim Region of the World Health Organization (WHO). The book was introduced in Korea about three weeks ago. Jeannie Kang, who represents the AAAOM at WHO, presented this book. This is a very exciting accomplishment for the profession. This publication contains 4,213 terms and their meanings. These will help researchers from around the world speak the same language. It will help in communication between medical providers of all specialties, as well as in speaking to patients. This represents many hours of diligent work by China, Korea, Japan and other countries in the Pacific Rim.

As the holidays approach, may you be safe, happy and enjoy the time with your loved ones. To the staff at AT - thanks for another year of progress and support.

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